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Pupils witness design in action on visit to UWE Bristol

Issue date: 13 March 2017

School pupils witnessed design in action when they visited the University of the West of England (UWE Bristol) to find out how the engineering and construction industries contribute towards international humanitarian aid and post-disaster support.

A group of 20 geography and engineering pupils from two north Bristol secondary schools attended a day-long workshop at UWE Bristol's Faculty of Environment and Technology organised by student volunteers.

Hosted in the studios of the Department of Architecture and the Built Environment, the visitors observed students at study and had the opportunity to build models of Hexayurts - structures used in post-disaster applications. They then viewed a full scale Hexayurt as constructed by architecture students on Frenchay campus.

All the pupils - from Orchard School Bristol (pictured) and Bristol Metropolitan Academy - described the day as 'fun' or 'inspiring', while teachers rated the difficulty of the event as 'just right'.

The project forms part of UWE Bristol's outreach work with local schools, providing opportunities for pupils to understand more about university life, and see how subjects they study are part of exciting and valuable potential careers.